India's singles players yet again failed to cross the qualifying hurdle at the Grand Slam stage as both Ramkumar Ramanathan and Yuki Bhambri exited the Wimbledon championships
Prajnesh Gunneswaran lost to a lower-ranked Otto Virtanen, while Ramkumar Ramanathan was beaten by Emil Ruusuvuori, leaving India trailing Finland 0-2 in the Davis World Group I, in Espoo, on Friday.
Ankita's defeat means that no Indian will compete in the singles main draw of the clay court Grand Slam.
Sumit Nagal has been dropped from the five-member Indian Davis Cup team for the World Group 1 play-off tie against Denmark in New Delhi next month.
India needs people like Rahul Dravid and Pullela Gopichand, who have done an excellent job in producing young talent in their respective disciplines, for tennis to develop in the country, says eight-time Grand Slam doubles champion Leander Paes.
India's number one player Prajnesh Gunneswaran, who achieved career-high 102 ranking this week, has been drawn against 22-year-old debutant Matteo Berrettini in the second singles rubber at the Calcutta South Club grass courts.
Rutuja Bhosale and Rohan Bopanna staged a great comeback after losing the first set to beat Chinese Taipei's combo of Tsung-hao Huang and En-shuo Liang in the final.
Appearing in her third grand slam qualifiers, Ankita (ranked 205) got the better of Frenchwoman Myrtille Georges 6-2, 6-2 in her opening round.
The top-seeded Indian team of Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan and Purav Raja moved into the men's doubles quarter-finals of the Bengaluru Open after prevailing over Croatia's Borna Gojo and Bulgaria's Dimitar Kuzmanov, in Bengaluru, on Wednesday.
Ramkumar will meet American Steve Johnson, who beat Spain's Marcel Granollers 6-3, 6-3 in the other semi-final, for the Hall of Fame Open title in Rhode Island on Sunday.
In a bold decision, Underdogs India have preferred Ramkumar Ramanathan over No. 1 singles player Sumit Nagal for their Davis Cup qualifier against top seeds Croatia, beginning in Zagreb on Friday.
Ramanathan, who is seeded 15th in the Qualifiers, lost 3-6, 4-6 to Italian Simone Bolleli, while 239th ranked Sumit Nagal, who is going through a rough patch, suffered his eighth straight first round defeat when he was thrashed 2-6, 0-6 by Poland's Kamil Majchrzak, ranked 192.
The All India Tennis Association's selection committee retained all four playing members of the squad that beat Korea Korea 4-1 last month, for the Davis Cup World Group play-off tie against Spain, scheduled for September 16-18.
Following is the schedule of Indian contingent on day six of the Asian Games:
Paes said he was pleased to see the manner in which Nagal handled himself against a great like Federer.
Hauling itself up from World Group II should not be a complicated task for India when it takes on an unostentatious Morocco in the home tie, which will be more of a celebration of Rohan Bopanna's Davis Cup career.
Defending champion Rohan Bopanna went down fighting in the thrilling doubles opening round game at the third edition of Tata Open Maharashtra, in Pune, on Wednesday. Playing alongside local boy Arjun Kadhe, the ace Indian player Bopanna dominated the game initially. However, after winning the first set convincingly, the Indian duo couldn't manage to continue the momentum further in the games against French pair of Benoit Paire and Antoine Hoang as they lost the match 3-6, 7-5, 10-7.
Sumit Nagal made a comeback to the Indian Davis Cup team for the away World Group I tie against Norway while doubles specialist Divij Sharan was dropped after falling behind in the pecking order, on Thursday.
India's number one tennis player Sumit Nagal is left with less than Rs one lakh in his bank account and a morose feeling of not leading a good life.
The Indian Davis Cup team was staring at defeat at the zonal level for the first time in five years following shock defeats of Ramkumar Ramanathan and Sumit Nagal on the opening day of the second round tie against China, in Tianjin, on Friday.
Top singles player Yuki Bhambri on Monday returned to the Indian Davis Cup team along with Saketh Myneni even as veteran Leander Paes was expectedly dropped from the squad for the tie against Canada next month.
Djere is ranked higher than Ramkumar at number 86 but is yet to win a match in Davis Cup. On the other side, Ramkumar is placed 135 in the world but is far more experienced, having played six ties with a 7-5 Win-Loss record.
Following is India's schedule at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, on Thursday, September 28.
India won the opening singles to take a 2-0 lead over South Korea on Day 1 of the Asia/Oceania Group-I tie against South Korea, in Chandigarh, on Friday. After young Ramkumar Ramanathan made a winning Davis Cup debut, scoring a hard-fought 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, 6-5 (15-15) victory over Seong Chan Hong in the first singles, Saketh Myneni got the better of Yong-Kyu Lim 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 5-2.
Yuki Bhambri crushed Argentina's Renzo Olivo in straight sets to move into the final round of the ATP Miami Masters qualifiers but Ramkumar Ramanathan was ousted in the opening round.
Shapovalov pulls out of French Open.
India's leading players Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Sumit Nagal lost in the pre-quarter-finals, ending India's challenge in the men's singles, of the Bengaluru Open, in Bengaluru, on Thursday.
Rohit Rajpal will continue as India's non-playing captain. He took over as captain last year after the country's top players and then captain Mahesh Bhupathi refused to travel to Pakistan in November. India is scheduled to travel to Croatia for their next tie on March 6 and 7.
World No 84, Gunneswaran, who reached the third round at the Indian Wells Masters after coming through qualifiers, beat the Spaniard 6-2, 6-4 in the opening round.
India's schedule on Day 4 of the Asian Games on Wednesday, September 27.
Saketh Myneni-led Baseline Bombers and Sriram Balaji-inspired Accurate Aces scored contrasting wins on the opening day of the 3rd edition of the Amanora Premier Tennis League at the Deccan Gymkhana courts, in Pune on Friday.
Following is India's schedule on Day 2 of competitions at the 18th Asian Games on Monday.
Sumit Nagal, seeded 21st in the qualifiers, was shown the door by Mohamed Safwat of Egypt
The 22-year-old from Haryana ended runners up in the Banja Luka ATP Challenger event on Sunday following a first round appearance at the US Open last month.
The left-handed Prajnesh, ranked 183, lost 3-6, 4-6 in the third and final round against the Swede, ranked 122 in the world.
Surprisingly, Yuki Bhambri has preferred a smaller $50,000 Challenger tournament in Kobe, Japan, while Ramkumar Ramanathan has to attend a mandatory ATP educative programme in London.
Veteran Leander Paes and his partner Samantha Stosur suffered a second round defeat in the mixed doubles event, ending India's campaign at the Australian Open.
The Indian pair defeated Dodig and Melo in straight sets to win the tournament.
Captain Mahesh Bhupathi, on Wednesday, made it clear that India won't miss veteran Leander Paes during their upcoming Davis Cup Qualifier against fancied Italy at Calcutta South Club on Friday-Saturday.
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